Analysis: Economic recovery is weakest since World War II

Economists say the recession that ended three years ago this summer has been followed by the feeblest recovery since the Great Depression.

Since World War II, 10 U.S. recessions have been followed by a recovery that lasted at least three years, and the one that began in June 2009 is the weakest, according to an Associated Press analysis.

The ugliness goes well beyond unemployment, which at 8.3 percent is the highest this long after a recession ended. Growth has never been weaker in a postwar recovery. Consumer spending has never been so slack. Only once has job growth been slower.

More than in any other post-World War II recovery, people who have jobs are hurting: Their paychecks have fallen behind inflation.

Many economists say the agonizing recovery from the Great Recession, which began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009, is the predictable consequence of a housing bust and a grave financial crisis.

The effects of a slowing global economy caught up to Deere & Co. in its fiscal third quarter, as profits rose 11 percent but fell well short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Deere cut its revenue prediction for the year and investors reacted swiftly. Shares dropped more than 7 percent.

The Moline, Ill., company said Wednesday that it earned $788 million, or $1.98 a share, for the quarter that ended July 31, compared with $712.3 million, or $1.69 a share, for the same period last year. Analysts expected $2.31 a share in the most recent quarter, according to FactSet.

Comments

Now I know it will only take a few minutes for one of my liberal friends to reject my argument but here goes. Yes the housing bust and financial crisis were especially bad but we should have already recovered. We have had both in the past and we have always recovered much sooner. What’s the difference this time? What really causes the recession is a pullback in personal spending due to fear of the future. Obamanomics, Obamacare, class warfare and excessive regulations have all contributed to the fear. The very class of people with discretionary income to help spark a recovery are the very people demonized by the administration. Taxing the rich more will take money out of the economy and further retard a recovery. No I am not rich but 100% of my eventual customer are and I can assure you that they have cut back on their spending. Clinton was successful because he moved to the right. Obama has painted himself into a corner and philosophically cannot move to the right. If you want four more of the same you know what to do. I DID build my business!

You recited your daily Fox News talking points perfectly. Norm Schultz is on the way to you with today’s gold star.

It’s truly a GLOBAL recession caused by Wall Street pushing toxic housing based investment instruments to a world-wide audience. When the bubble burst, it spewed waste over EVERYONE world-wide. Because it’s global, there is no country in a position to carry the rest of the world – everyone is suffering. Couple that with the austerity measures implemented by backwards thinking governments and you have the slow growth situation we are in now. None of the governments saved for the proverbial “rainy day” and they’ve retreated even further now, creating the self-fulfilling fantasy of slow to no growth. It’s past time for a big government stimulus to create the economic multipliers that private industry is failing to do now. When corporations are sitting on at least $2 trillion in cash, they have the funds available to invest in hiring and creating jobs, but they aren’t because there aren’t any customers. So…if private industry isn’t willing to do what they are supposed to do, it is up to the government to do it – temporarily. Our infrastructure is crumbling, so start there. The work is contracted out to private companies, so you should be happy about that.
The uncertainty you mention is because of stalemates in Congress and one party explicity stating they want Obama to be a one term President. To take that stance illustrates absolute stupidity because it hurts EVERYONE. Policy blocks, impediments, and failure to cooperate create the slow recovery. Sabotaging our economy for some short-term political touchdown is short-sighted, childish, and dumb!